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Erden Eruç will achieve a human powered circumnavigation. During the
same journey, Eruç will approach and climb the highest summits on each continent that he touches along the way. In
Stage 1, Eruç reached the summit of Mt. McKinley by human power from Seattle. Now in Stage 2, his goal is to summit
Kosciuszko in Australia starting from his home in Seattle.
Founded to honor the legacy of fallen friends, our goal at
Around-n-Over is to create educational opportunities from the experiences surrounding human powered journeys, and to
use the same as co-fundraising programs toward our charitable goals.
Current Itinerary
- July 10, 2007 - Erden launched from Bodega Bay to cross the Pacific Ocean by rowing.
- May 14, 2008 - Erden reached within 137 nautical miles of Wewak port in Papua New Guinea. The unfavorable seas
then carried him offshore with 10 days worth of food left on board, toward storm tracks in the typhoon season.
- May 17, 2008 - 312 days after leaving California, Erden sought the help of Philippine fishermen from Frabelle Fishing Corporation to pick up his boat.
- 2009 - Philippine fishermen will return Erden's boat to the same spot in PNG waters. The row will resume to reach the
east coast of Australia. Erden will then climb Kosciuszko as the second summit on his Six Summits Project.
- Erden will bicycle across Australia, move his boat west, and launch on the Indian Ocean toward
the next summit.
STAGE 1: (summary page)
- In 2003, Erden Eruç bicycled 5,546 miles roundtrip from Seattle to Denali (Mt. McKinley) towing all climbing gear (WHY?)
- Walked in 67 miles over glaciers to reach base camp
- Climbed 20,320 feet (6,194 meters), achieving a Sea-to-Summit climb of Denali - by human power
STAGE 2: (summary page)
- In May 2007, Erden bicycled from Seattle to the Corinthian Yacht Club in Tiburon for his launch on
the Pacific Ocean.
- The starting point of the Pacific row was later moved from Tiburon to Bodega Bay, to avoid the strong
tides at the Golden Gate. Erden bicycled from Tiburon to Bodega Bay to set the stage for departure.
- Bodega Bay is the starting point of Erden's human
powered circumnavigation.
- After five weeks, Erden was finally able to launch his ocean rowing boat from Bodega Bay on July
10, 2007. His intentions were to reach Australia by rowing to climb the summit of Mt. Kosciuszko, which will be
the second summit on the Six Summits list.
- Erden reached the waters of Papua New Guinea and ended his crossing until after the typhoon season. He
became the 4th person to row the Pacific Ocean solo east to west.
- 312 days spent at sea became the new Guiness World Record for time spent at sea by a solo ocean rower.
Dispatches are on our home page, progress charts available from the buttons in the upper right corner of the same.
PRIOR SUCCESS:
On sabbatical from the Six Summits Project, Erden Eruç rowed alone from Las Palmas in the
Canary Islands to the island of Guadeloupe in the Caribbean Sea. The row had started in Lisbon as a pair,
arriving at Las Palmas on December 11, 2005. The solo Atlantic crossing time of 92 days which began
on January 29, 2006 in Las Palmas, put Erden into the Caribbean Sea on May 2. On May 5, Erden made landfall at the
island of Guadeloupe. With this solo crossing from the Canaries to Guadeloupe, Erden became the 33rd
person in history to row across the Atlantic East to West single-handed.
Thank you for your interest in Around-n-Over. We believe that this is a multi-faceted story which is worth telling
from every angle. We hope that you will agree.
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Why are we doing this?
We are in the business of realizing dreams, and helping others achieve theirs.
There are dreams that never go away. They live inside us. We learn to live with them. We tuck them away. We
try to ignore them. We have commitments in the city. We feel guilty to even consider those dreams. Sometimes
we indulge, lifting our eyes off the pages of a magazine with colorful pictures, and gaze into the distance. These
dreams most often define the true individual inside us that wants to come alive.
Why is it that we accept as final our boundaries, and never reach beyond them? Is it because, as we grew up, we
were told "to get real," or "to come down to earth" enough times that we are now set in our ways?
We are on this journey together to tell young students that dreams are possible with due diligence. We want to
show them that they too can realize their dreams if they keep a positive outlook for life, seek proper advice
and decide to take the necessary steps forward. We want to demonstrate that with collaboration comes
understanding, and with understanding comes peace, which brings out the beauty in humanity.
But still: why take on such a long and demanding journey just to make that point? And why the summits?
One such dream was the path that Erden Eruç traced on a world map
at his workplace in 1997. The path defined a human powered journey around the northern hemisphere.
It was one that sparked years of research and planning which evolved over time. When Erden met Göran Kropp, there was mutual excitement about the possibilities, and Göran
offered encouragement while affirming Erden's dream. An unfortunate accident while rock climbing together led
to Göran's death, and Erden decided to start his human powered journey around the world. To honor Göran's spirit, Erden's
journey now includes reaching the highest summit on each of six consecutive continents along the way. He will
touch these "from the sea to the summit" after approaching them by human power. The route has now evolved
into a true circumnavigation.
The goal of Around-n-Over is to motivate and to educate students in elementary and middle schools. We have
offered presentations which engaged the students, covering goal setting, realizing dreams, overcoming
obstacles, and dealing with tragedy while using the journey as the backdrop. We have offered sessions with
high school students where career choices, technology applications to adventure, business aspects of our
project were the topics of discussion.
Our goal has been to remain environmentally conscious in our journey and in our presentations to
empower the children with the skills to carry themselves responsibly in life and on their own
mini-expeditions into the outdoors. Supporting the Bishwa Darshan Primary School in Nepal
is our legacy goal which will be an ongoing consideration. In the long run, we will become
enablers, helping other adventurers to achieve their dreams, which will keep the inspirational
stories in front of children.
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